^The point is, canonically it's supposed to be the same continuity prior to 2233. However, different tie-ins, since they are not canonical, have frequently presented contradictory interpretations of events that supposedly took place in the same original timeline. That's all they are -- interpretations. The comic and the novel don't represent different 20th-century histories, they represent different authors' speculations about what Trek's 20th century may have been like.

What an utterly generic cover. Minus out the branding and you could slap just about any title on that book. Jack Ryan, Bourne? Etc, etc.

I don't have high hopes for this one, but I'll probably give it a look through out of curiosity. I'm surprised they're even touching on the Eugenics Wars because of the inherent weirdness of them as per their temporal setting.

Maybe they'll shock us with a surprise revelation, though. I still note no one actually uses Khan's full name except for Spock Prime which felt like a backdoor out for the writers incase they changed their mind about his identity.

I still note no one actually uses Khan's full name except for Spock Prime which felt like a backdoor out for the writers incase they changed their mind about his identity.

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They didn't use his full name in TWOK either and it was still Khan. I mean really how many times does ones full name come up in conversation anyway.

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When one is specifically asked who they are as they were in the film? If someone asked who you were you wouldn't just shout your first name and leave it at that. "WHO ARE YOU?" "JOE!"

And the TWOK example isn't the same situation. My comment wasn't meant to imply it wasn't Khan, but rather a weird evasion of the longer name, which might be grounds to be played with in a tie-in comic. The Spock scene almost seems like "Huh, we never did get the whole name in there."

^The point is, canonically it's supposed to be the same continuity prior to 2233. However, different tie-ins, since they are not canonical, have frequently presented contradictory interpretations of events that supposedly took place in the same original timeline. That's all they are -- interpretations. The comic and the novel don't represent different 20th-century histories, they represent different authors' speculations about what Trek's 20th century may have been like.

What an utterly generic cover. Minus out the branding and you could slap just about any title on that book. Jack Ryan, Bourne? Etc, etc.

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Maybe that's the point of that style of cover -- to suggest a particular genre. Maybe it shows that they're taking a spy-thriller route with the story. In which case it's informative.

Maybe they'll shock us with a surprise revelation, though. I still note no one actually uses Khan's full name except for Spock Prime which felt like a backdoor out for the writers incase they changed their mind about his identity.

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No, it felt like the writers referring to him the way he's almost always been referred to. In "Space Seed," he avoided using his full name because he wanted to conceal his identity, but that's been overlooked in later works; fandom knows him as Khan, so the movies call him Khan. There's no deeper meaning to it than just giving the audience what they expect to hear.

which felt like a backdoor out for the writers incase they changed their mind about his identity.

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And what's so wrong with that?

Had they not done so, we'd have just as many complaints that the writers could have left themselves a "backdoor out". If only they'd done that, everyone would have been happy.

Was there really a need to read all four issues of "Nero" before the 2009 movie came out? Of course not. Remember that less than 1% of the audience will buy the tie-in comics anyway. Coming out after the film, the IDW writers were able to adapt the Klingons' footage that had been tossed into the bonus scenes of the DVD, and highlight aliens we'd barely glimpsed in the movie. Lots of stuff that would bog us down with details before seeing the movie.

Can you imagine film goers saying, "You mean I was supposed to read a comic - over the last four months - before seeing this movie? Is it for sale in the foyer? Do I have time before the film starts?"

Along the same line, was there really a need to read all six issues of "Khan" before STiD came out? Of course not. We, some of the 1%, probably already know Greg Cox's version of events, and now there's a new interpretation. Supposedly only part of the upcoming IDW effort is set during the "Eugenics War(s)". There will also be scenes with Admiral Marcus. Again, material we'd didn't need to know to enjoy a two-hour movies. Which parts did you feel you needed to know before seeing the movie?

It is possible some fans will pick up the "Khan" mini-series and read it before watching STiD on free-to-air TV.

In a way, Khan was the back door. While Damon Lindelof wanted Khan to be the villain from the start, Roberto Orci didn't want to use him, and insisted that they develop the story with an original character as the villain, in order to ensure it could work as a standalone story rather than just continuity porn; and then, once they were confident in the story they had, they addressed whether it would still work if the villain were Khan, and they ultimately decided it would.

But the idea that they only used his first name because they thought they might reveal he was, say, Khan Jones instead of Khan Singh? That's just bizarre. The name "Khan" carries a clear and unambiguous meaning to Trek fans. They wouldn't call a character Khan unless it were meant to be that Khan. (Genghis Khan from "The Savage Curtain" and Zor Khan from "All Our Yesterdays" notwithstanding, since neither of them had any prospect of showing up in a 23rd-century story.)